How do you know that you know what you know? The trap of the large repertoire

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There is a false freedom in having a large repertoire:

• You feel more confident when every tune in your set is a well-honed workhorse.
• You don’t have to work too hard to play a wedding, a funeral, a tea party, and a concert back to back because you have the rep in hand.
• The looks you get from other musicians when you play a three-hour gig with just a set list (yes, it is juvenile and silly…but also honest (and lighter than carrying a music stand and a binder or ipad)).

But that same large repertoire is a trap!

• Because you are “set” to play just about any set, the motivation to add tunes can be pretty low. 
• Because when you play the same stuff all the time, it will get stale, no matter how much you love it.
• Because when you put a long time between learning new tunes, it begins to feel harder to learn the tune, to master it, to smooth it out, and to eventually perform it.
• Because when you’re not growing…you’re dying!

So, you need to walk the line between settling into a large repertoire you can confidently and comfortably pull it out at a moment’s notice and living (maybe on the edge while learning new stuff that you may not have completely comfortable with it before you walk it out on stage!*)

If you’re going to escape this repertoire trap, you need to do a couple of things:

1. You need to know what you already know.  Write down that repertoire!  You can make a list, or you can make a caldron: For each tune you know (and eventually those you are learning) write an index card.  Include the title, composer (if appropriate), tune type, the key you play it in (or the number of sharps or flats to set), the source, and if you need it, copy the first couple of measures (and anything else that will help you remember the tune so you can play it).  You can file the cards any way that helps you – alphabetical by title or by tune types (all jigs together, all reels together, etc.), or by use (all wedding prelude tunes together, all “party pieces” together, all tunes “in progress” together (helpful hints – don’t mix filing types (some by title, some by tune type); no matter what language the title is in, and no matter how many titles the tune might have, file the card under the  title that you think of for the tune (for instance, although it is best titled “Crodh Laoigh nam Bodach”, I know it as “Old Man’s Young Calves” so I filed it under “O” not “C”).  Once you have it going, you have a representation of your repertoire in one place and in a form that will help you make up set lists, practice, and know what you know. 
2. You need to know what you do not already know.  Make a list – of all the tunes you don’t know, but wish you did.  You can wish you did because they get played in your session all the time, or because you really like the tune, or because someone has requested you play it, or because you need more hornpipes.  The reason is immaterial – so long as you know what you’re going to work on next!  This list will always be dauntingly large, will always grow, and will be constantly reshuffled.  So, it might be a good idea for these to also be index cards (so you can seamlessly move them into the learned pile!).
3. You need to move tunes from one group to the other.  Use these lists to organize your practice – you already know you don’t keep that much music in your head without refreshing it – but now you can actively structure your practice to include refreshers and just plain fresh (or maybe “under-ripe”?) – but this way you’re learning and building and keeping up with yourself.

What are your repertoire traps?  How do you escape your repertoire traps?  Let us know in the comments below.

* here you need to be completely honest with yourself – don’t put yourself into the situation of having to perform something that just is not ready!  It is not kind to yourself, to the audience, or to the tune itself!